This image released by Universal Pictures shows Chris Hemsworth, left, and Daniel Bruhl in a scene from 'Rush.'

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"Rocky," "Hoosiers," "The Bad News Bears," even "Teen Wolf," are about unexpected greatness. The formula may be tried, but it also is tired. "Miracle," "Seabiscuit," "The Blind Side," even "The Water Boy" in recent years have repurposed the same plot.

Mercifully, director Ron Howard and screen writer Peter Morgan had something else in mind when they wanted to do a movie about racing. They went off-camber, as they say in motor sports, and went another direction in "Rush," a movie now in theaters. ...